Deel vs Papaya Global: EOR, payroll and payment costs (2026)

Published prices

Papaya Global's pricing page lists employer of record from $499 per employee per month, contractor of record from $199, contractor payments from $5 per contractor and Payroll Plus, its managed global payroll, from $29 per employee. Its payments product, OnePay, has no platform fee. Workforce OS and Contingent OS, its broader platforms, are quote-only, and every plan leads to a quote request.

Deel lists employer of record from $599 per employee per month, contractor management from $49, Contractor of Record from $325 and global payroll at $29. Deel's plans are month to month. On list price Papaya is $100 a month cheaper per EOR employee and much cheaper per contractor, but both are starting prices, so the quote for your countries decides it.

Where the money is made: deposits and FX

Papaya says its exchange rate is a market reference rate plus a Papaya processing fee it does not publish, and that for EOR it fixes the FX amount when salary is calculated, with wider hedging margins in more volatile countries. OnePay has no platform fee because it earns on FX. Papaya's contractor of record plan lists no deposit.

Deel converts at a forward rate from its banking partners, on top of payment-method fees, and also publishes no markup. It normally takes a deposit of one to one and a half months of costs for each EOR hire.

When two vendors earn part of their margin on conversion, the list price is only half the comparison. Ask each for the all-in rate on a recent payroll date, and estimate your own exposure with the FX savings calculator.

Coverage and entities

Papaya lists employer of record hiring in 180+ countries, contractor of record in 160+ and payouts in local currency in 180+ countries and 130+ currencies. It does not say on its pricing or EOR pages whether it uses its own entities, though it says it guarantees EOR termination liability, subject to terms.

Deel lists EOR in 130+ countries and says it owns entities and its payroll engine in each. For any country you need, ask both vendors who the legal employer is and who runs the payroll calculation.

How workers get paid

Papaya pays contractors by local bank transfer or into its free Banco wallet, which comes with a Visa card and a US IBAN, and supports mobile money such as M-Pesa in some markets. None of its pricing, contractor, wallet or coverage pages states a stablecoin payout.

Deel lets contractors withdraw through local bank, Wise, PayPal, Payoneer, Revolut, Coinbase or a USDC or USDT wallet transfer, each with its own fee. Toku pays contractors in local currency, USDC or USDT through contractor management, and lets employees opt in to USDC net pay where local rules allow.

Which one fits

This is Toku's reading of each provider's public pages as of November 2026. For a three-way look at Papaya, Remote and Toku, see Papaya Global vs Remote vs Toku.

• Papaya Global fits companies that want a lower EOR list price, wide country coverage and managed payroll, and are comfortable negotiating FX terms.
• Deel fits companies that want a broad product range with published prices, owned entities and more withdrawal options for contractors.
• Toku fits global teams that want EOR at a published $599, contractors at $19 and the option to pay in USDC or USDT.